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Thursday, 20 April 2017

In 2005, tail number A6-BSM, operating for Olympic Airlines, suffered a compressor stall short after take-off at Paris Charles de Gaulle.

A6-BSM compressor stall

Since then, Star Jet was banned from the European airspace and the L-1011 was left abandoned at CDG. Exposed to the elements, the airframe quickly became derelict. After so many years of storage, it was now finally scrapped.

Synopsis of the incident:

After difficulties during boarding, the airplane, operated by Star Jet and wetleased by Olympic Airlines, took off late. A short time after retracting the landing gear, the crew heard a series of thumps and noticed that engine 3 TGT was increasing. They applied the FIRE OR SEVERE DAMAGE procedure, performed an aerodrome circuit and landed.
The investigation showed that the engine had suffered from a serious sustained (pop) surge. This was caused by a combination of wear to the compressor blades, damage caused by an object passing through the intermediate and high-pressure compressor stages and the stresses induced by this phase of takeoff. The investigation also showed that the airplane was in bad overall condition and that the absence of a framework for documentation made it impossible for the operator to ensure appropriate follow-up of maintenance operations.
The investigation showed that, in general, there were numerous failings in the operation established by Star Jet. The safety inspections performed at several levels did not enable these failings to be corrected. Nor did they prevent the airplane from being flown in Europe.